Royal Oakes - Insurance Litigation & Regulatory Law Blog

Royal Oakes is a partner in the firm’s Los Angeles office. He has extensive trial and appellate experience in the fields of insurance and general business law, having litigated hundreds of cases in the areas of bad faith law and unfair business practices. A substantial part of his practice is devoted to the defense of class actions. Mr. Oakes has served as lead counsel in numerous appellate cases, including victories in the California Supreme Court and the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. He was lead counsel in Farmers Insurance Exchange v. Superior Court, 2 Cal. 4th 377 (1992), in which the California Supreme Court established the doctrine of primary jurisdiction. Mr. Oakes’ most recent trials involved complex cases in both the property-casualty and life insurance fields. He won a bench trial involving a $1.5 million life insurance claim submitted by the heirs of an insured murder victim. He also won a jury trial involving a putative class action that alleged an automobile insurer’s “direct repair program” violated the rights of policyholders. In addition to his work with Barger & Wolen LLP, Mr. Oakes is one of the nation’s best-known television and radio legal commentators. Nationally, he is an ABC News Legal Analyst, and airs a daily feature, “It’s The Law,” on Westwood One’s “Metro Networks.” In Los Angeles, he serves as the on-air legal commentator for KFWB All-News Radio.